Dead of Winter: A Crossroads Game

Dead of Winter begins by choosing a main scenario and setting up the central colony board alongside six external location boards, including the police station, grocery store, and hospital. Each player receives a starting hand of survivor cards, personal equipment, starter items, and a unique hidden secret objective card. The main objective, round tracker, crisis deck, and zombie supply pools are prepared according to the chosen scenario rules, creating a tense winter survival sandbox.

The primary goal is cooperative: the colony must achieve the main scenario objective before time runs out. However, every player also receives a private secret objective that they must fulfill to truly win. Some players may even receive a traitor objective, meaning they win only if the colony fails, adding layers of paranoia and deduction to every cooperative decision.

A round consists of several phases starting with the crisis phase where a secret crisis card is drawn and resources are contributed. Next, players take turns rolling a pool of action dice equal to their active survivors plus one. These dice are spent on movement, scavenging locations, building barricades, clearing zombies, or attracting attention. Players must also resolve crossroads cards whenever specific triggers occur.

Scoring and winning are dual-layered. The colony wins collectively if the main scenario goal is completed by the final round. However, individual victory requires each player to have also completed their secret objective. If the colony wins but a player fails their secret objective, they lose, and if the colony loses, everyone generally loses unless they are a successful traitor.

The game ends instantly when the colony's morale tracker drops to zero, when the round marker reaches the end of the track, or when the main scenario goals are fully satisfied. Final resolution determines whether the colony survived the brutal winter or succumbed to the undead hordes and internal betrayal.